The Difficulties Faced by Students during Transition into High School - Research Proposal Example

TRANSITION TO HIGH SCHOOL - RESEARCH PROPOSAL Executive Summary In this document the proposes to study the difficulties and the challenges that are faced by students in the British Virgin Islands when transitioning from primary school to high school. While the main focus of the study is the experience of the children, the study also takes an objective look at the roles played by teachers and parents and all the challenges that are faced by them in these difficult times. The objective of this research study is for the author to gain an in depth understanding of the difficulties that are faced by the students and find ways and means to mitigate or avoid such difficulties in the short and the long term. It is also the author's objective to gain an understanding on the different steps and actions that can be undertaken by parents and teachers alike to help the students to overcome the difficulties that they are faced with during the transition and make the transition as smooth as possible. According to the initial study that has been conducted, which was the collection of secondary data for the initial literature review, the author has gained an overall knowledge of the different aspects that pose challenges to students as well as teachers and parents when teenagers transition from primary to high school. And this knowledge has the author to design the framework for the study and the give the reader an overview of what can be expected throughout the entirerity of the research study. . In this document the author has given a brief description of the methods that will be used to carry out the main research study, the objectives of the research study, the structure of the dissertation, the timetable for the entire research study as well as the resources that will be needed to carry out the research study and finally the limitations of the research study. Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 1 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Research Objectives 4 Research Topic 5 Literature Review 6 Theoretical Framework 8 Methodology 8 Research Design 9 Research Context 9 Procedure 10 Data collection Method 11 Data Analysis 12 Timeline and Work Schedule 12 Resources 13 Limitations 14 Proposed Research Report Structure 15 References 17 Bibliography 18 THE DIFFICULTIES FACED BY STUDENTS WHEN TRANSITIONING TO HIGH SCHOOL IN THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, THEIR EXPECTATIONS AND SUBSEQUENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND THE SIGNIFICANT ROLE THAT CAN BE FULFILLED BY PARENTS AND TEACHERS ALIKE TO HELP MITIGATE THE DIFFICULTIES AND HELP EASE AND SMOOTHEN THE TRANSITION Introduction This is a research proposal that the author is completing in part fulfillment of her degree requirement. The area that the author would like to study is the difficulties faced by students when they transition into high school. Therefore in this research proposal the author will give an overview of the research objectives, the research topic, the resources needed for the research study, a brief literature review, the methodology for the research study, the limitations of the study, the timeline needed for the study and finally the structure of the dissertation when the entire research study is completed. In this document the author also gives the reader a basic knowledge of the manner in which the primary data will be gathered and the different sources that will be used to gather the primary data as well as a justification for the methods that will be used. Research Objectives Here the author will give a brief overview of the objectives of the research study that she will evaluate for completion at the end of the research. Gain an in-depth understanding of difficulties faced by students transitioning into high school in the British Virgin Islands To gain an understanding of the root causes of the difficulties faced by students when transitioning to the high school from the point of view of teachers and parents To understand how to make the transition from primary school to high school a smooth and easy transition. To gain an understanding of the different actions and steps that can be taken by students, parents and teachers to help the transition to be smooth To be able to make suggestions and recommendations on best practices to be followed when helping and supporting students through the difficult transition from primary school to high school. Research Topic The research topic that has been proposed by the author is "the difficulties faced by students when transitioning to high school in the British Virgin Islands, their expectations and subsequent academic performance and the significant role that can be fulfilled by parents and teachers alike to help mitigate the difficulties and help ease and smoothen the transition" As apparent from the research topic that has been stated above the research study has to be carried out in phases, each phase will study a different aspect of the topic that has been stated and together they will make up the entire research study and help the author to make the necessary recommendations. In the first section of the study the author will study the difficulties that are faced by students when they transition from primary to high school and to understand the reasons for such difficulties and the what the students think are essential to make the transition more smooth and easy. In the next phase of the study the author will gain an understanding of the difficulties that are faced by teachers when helping students cope with the transitions to high school and the reasons for these difficulties and also to gather information on the different steps teachers think need to be taken to make the transition easier on the students as well as the teachers. Then the author will gather information from the parents that will shed light on the difficulties faced by students from the point of view of parents, the support that is provided by parents and the difficulties faced by them and their ideas and suggestions on how things can be improved for the students and parents alike to cope with this difficult time. Finally the author will look at the academic records of the students' for the past year and make an analysis if their performance was in line with the expectations and the fears that the students with regard to the transition to high school. Literature Review The transition from elementary school to high school when students are merely 11/12 years old is a very intimidating time and experience for the students. However this difficulty also poses challenges to teachers as well as parents who feel that they require more support to help the students through these difficult times (Reents, 2002). Children transitioning from elementary school to high school usually have some common fears such as the fear that the academic performance that is expected from them is of a higher level and one that they maybe unable to achieve. Another fear that they have is that they will not be liked and will have to leave the comfort of their familiar surroundings where they have friends and have put down roots (often students will go to many different schools and therefore they will not have their old friends in the new school) thus making them feel unsettled and uprooted (Whitley, Lupart & Beran, 2007). Instead of being amongst the oldest in the school they will now go back to being the youngest and therefore they often feel afraid that they will be picked on by older students and will not be liked and may even be picked on, bullied and teased (Kelly, 1979). They also fear that the higher academic standards expected of them would cause them to have lower grades. Students have often stated that they feel lost in the huge school buildings and are disturbed by the crowed hallways and the new culture in the high school. Further studies have often shown that bright young students who performed very well in elementary school often show signs of declining grades and absenteeism, this happens partly because of their fears that have been stated above and also because of the feelings of not fitting in, the drop in self esteem and the loss of old friends at a time when friends and comfort are needed the most (Smith, 2006). Research in the past has also found that irrespective of the students' ability whether they are "gifted", "high-achievers", "average" or "below average" they all face the same fears and go through the same transition anxieties which result in lower grades due to the unpleasant experiences associated with the transition from elementary school to high school (Newman, Myers, Newman, Lohman & Smith, 2000). Research has also found that one way to avert such transition "blues" is to ensure that students are prepared and go through a structured transition program that addresses diverse activities and familiarize the young students with their life at high school (Newman, Newman, Griffen, O'Connor & Spas, 2007). This will not only help to alleviate their fears but also help them to meet other students and make friends before they actually start high school. Schools that had such "transition programs" have also shown a decline in drop out rates, as well as better academic achievement levels than other schools that do not have such programs (Seidman, Aber, Allen, & French, 1996). Both parents and teachers have a huge role to play when helping students' and children transition from elementary school to high school and those with more support are more successful. Theoretical Framework The information that is gathered through the literature review will be used as the theoretical framework for the entire study and the author will use this to design and develop hypotheses and the questionnaires to collect primary data as well as to structure the entire research study. Methodology Now that the author has given an overview of the research topic, the research objectives and carried out an initial literature review in this section the author will now state the methodology that will be used to carry out the research study. In this section the author will discuss the research design, research context and the research procedure. Research Design The research will be carried out in three stages as stated above. The first stage will be gathering the secondary data for the literature review. The next stage will consist of building the hypotheses that will then be used to design the questionnaires The primary data will then be gathered with the use of the questionnaires The students' questionnaires will then be related to the academic records of the relevant students. Finally the findings will be evaluated against the secondary data that was gathered and the hypotheses will be confirmed or rejected. Conclusions will then be drawn and suggestions and recommendations will be made by the author based on the findings Research Context The author will build hypotheses based on the information that was gathered through the literature reviews and then use it to design questionnaires for the three different segments of the sample group. The primary data sources for this study will be the following 1. Students about their transition experience and what support activities they think are necessary to smoothen the transition 2. Parents' about their children's transition experience, the difficulties faced by the parents and what support activities they think would help them to help their children through this difficult time. 3. Teachers' about their students transition experience, the difficulties faced by the parent and what support activities they think would help them to help their students through this difficult time. 4. Academic records for the past year for all the students participating in the study Procedure Based on the secondary data that is gathered from the literature review the author will build different hypotheses. These hypotheses will be used to design and develop threes sets of questionnaires, one each for each segment of the sample group. The initial set of questionnaires will then be piloted on a group of individuals (the author's peers) and feedback will be gathered from these individuals as well as the supervisor and incorporated in the questionnaires to be sent out to the sample group. Once the questionnaires have been redesigned it will then be distributed amongst the individuals who have stated that they you participate in the research study. In order to track the responses and connect the student's questionnaire to that of the relevant teach and relevant parent's questionnaires, the questionnaires will be given specific serial numbers. When analyzing the data the author will further relate the relevant student's/parent's/teacher's questionnaire to the past year's academic records for the relevant student - in order to study if a correlation exists between the student's experience, expectations and the academic records. Data collection Method The author will create a list of all the students from the different schools she will have access to them and then categorize them in different demographic groups and also according to their academic records. Then the author will randomly select the names in proportionate numbers from the lists that have been created. Next the author will select teachers and parents to participate in the study based on the students that have been selected for the study. The parents of students will first be contacted to ensure that the author receives the approval for their children to participate in the study. Once approval has been received the students and also the corresponding teachers will be contacted. The parents, the students and the teachers will then be administered the questionnaires. The author will do her best to meet the sample population in groups and brief them on the research study, their rights, their obligations and to assure everyone participating of the confidentiality and privacy policies and also the final objective of the study. The questionnaires will then be delivered to the sample groups via email and other methods - monitoring the return of questionnaires will then take place and finally once all the questionnaires are collected or the deadline elapses (whichever happens first), the author will schedule telephone interviews. The author will then conduct telephone interviews to probe further on the responses. Data Analysis There will be three sets of questionnaire each focusing on a different segment of the sample group - students, teachers and parents All the questionnaires will be designed in the form of a statements that will have to be rated on a Likert Scale of 1 - 5, avoiding room for middle ground answers and making analysis easier The findings will then be analyzed using Excel and SPSS Timeline and Work Schedule Given below is a list of the milestones and their corresponding deadlines for the research study. The author has added in 3 - 7 days in addition to the required time to ensure that unforeseen circumstances will not stall the progress of the research study. ACTIVITY DEADLINE Deciding on the topic to studied 1- Jun Carrying out an initial study and collecting secondary data that would be sufficient for the research proposal 15-Jun Writing the research proposal 25-Jun Submitting the proposal and awaiting feedback from the supervisor 30-Jun Incorporating changes based on the feedback received from the supervisor 10-Jul Completing the literature review to create and build the hypotheses 10-Aug Designing and building the hypotheses 31-Aug Preparing initial questionnaire 15-Sep Deciding and selecting the sample group 30-Sep Piloting the questionnaire on a group of peers and incorporating necessary changes 05-Oct Administering the questionnaires, gathering the questionnaires and inputing the findings into spreadsheets for analysis 15-Oct Analyzing and interpreting primary data 30-Nov Preparation of the final report 31-Jan Submitting final report 15-Feb Resources In this section the author will give a detailed description of all the different resources that she believes will be essential to carry out the proposed research study. The author need unlimited access to an online library or any library that has access to the secondary data relating to educational psychology, educational institutes and research conducted on educational institutions and the education system. Access to students in selected schools to gather primary data through means of questionnaires and interviews. Sufficient access to high schools to be able to gather the primary data from students. The numbers the author has access to have to be reflective of the greater population in terms of demographics. Access to teachers and parents of the students participating in the research study. Access to the students in a manner that would not contaminate or dilute the information provided by them through intervention or biases of parents and teachers. Resources such as stationary, , email, and a research assistant to help with the distribution, gathering and data input and analysis of the information gathered from questionnaires. Financial resources for incidental costs like stationary, travel and other unexpected expenses that may prop up. Access to MS Access Database, SPSS and even MS Excel applications to be used in the data analysis and interpretation stage. Adequate time to carry out the research study, gather the necessary data and interpret the information that has been gathered. Limitations In this section the author will discuss the different limitations of the research study and its findings and significance. Gaining access to sufficient numbers of students, gaining their trust and being able to collect information that is not biased or tampered with any way is the biggest risk in this research study and therefore the inability to guarantee a perfect outcome can be considered as the biggest limitation of the research study. Time constraints in the case of primary data collection, as it has to be done from three different segments and the author has no real control over the completion of the questionnaires is another limitation of the study. Teachers may not be forthcoming with the necessary information for the fear of their jobs and the mistrust of research and many other factors that would bias the research study and give skewered results with regard to support and also the reasons for the transition being difficult for the students. This will be especially true if the teachers feel that they have failed the students in one way or another but do not wish to divulge that information for fear of repercussions. Further it might not be possible to gain access to sufficient numbers of students, parents and teachers in proportion to the demographics of the British Virgin Islands and therefore the information gathered through the research study may not be reflective of the wider population. In ability to meet with each and every participant and interviewing them to reduce biases and other inaccuracies. Finally there maybe unforeseen challenges such as insufficient numbers of questionnaires being returned, biases in responses, students sharing and discussing and down grading or upgrading the severity of the difficulties faced when transitioning to high school etc that may make the research inaccurate and cause the research study not to be reflective of the opinion of the larger population. Proposed Research Report Structure In this section the author will give an overview of the structure of the dissertation. Chapter One - Introduction -This chapter will include the research topic, the methodology, the justification, the limitations of the research study etc. Chapter Two - Literature Review - In this chapter the author will carry out an in depth literature review that will be directly related to the research objectives that have been set out. Chapter Three - Methodology - Based on the information that has been gathered in the literature review the author will build a few hypotheses that will then be tested on the chosen sample group. This chapter will also describe the questionnaires that will be used, the reasons for the use of specific questions and finally the manner in which the data that is gathered will be analyzed. Chapter Four - Findings - In this chapter the author will present the data that has been gathered and analyzed. The data will be presented with the help of excel spreadsheets and tables and bar charts. Chapter Five - Data Interpretation and Conclusions - In this chapter the author will discuss the data that was gathered and the correlate it to the findings that were made through the secondary data that was gathered in the literature review. The author will further correlate the secondary and primary data to each other and then draw conclusions with the use of some assumptions, confirm and reject some or all of the hypotheses and use the knowledge that has been gained to make suggestions and recommendations on what can be done to improve the experience of students from primary to high school and the different actions that can be taken by the different segments such as teachers, parents and the students themselves to make the transition smooth. Chapter Six - Reflections, Limitations and Future work - In this chapter the author will evaluate the research objectives and analyze if they have been met and if not why they were not met. References 1. Kelly, J. G. (Ed.). (1979). Adolescent Boys in High School: A Psychological Study of Coping and Adaptation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 2. Newman, B. M., Myers, M. C., Newman, P. R., Lohman, B. J., & Smith, V. L. (2000). The Transition to High School for Academically Promising, Urban Low-Income African American Youth. Adolescence, 35(137), 45. 3. Newman, B. M., Newman, P. R., Griffen, S., O'Connor, K., & Spas, J. (2007). The Relationship of Social Support to Depressive Symptoms during the Transition to High School. Adolescence, 42(167), 441+. 4. Reents, J. N. (2002, March). Isolating 9th Graders: Separate Schools Ease the Academic and Social Transition for High School-Bound Students. School Administrator, 3, 14+. 5. Seidman, E., Aber, L. J., Allen, L., & French, S. E. (1996). The Impact of the Transition to High School on the Self-System and Perceived Social Context of Poor Urban Youth. American Journal of Community Psychology, 24(4), 489+. 6. Smith, J. S. (2006). Examining the Long-Term Impact of Achievement Loss during the Transition to High School. Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 17(4), 211+. 7. Whitley, J., Lupart, J. L., & Beran, T. (2007). Differences in Achievement between Adolescents Who Remain in a K-8 School and Those Who Transition to a Junior High School. Canadian Journal of Education, 30(3), 649+. Bibliography 8. Anderson, A., & Weber, E. (1997). A Multiple Intelligence Approach to Healthy Active Living in High School. JOPERD--The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 68(4), 57+. 9. Christle, C. A., Jolivette, K., & Michael, N. C. (2007). School Characteristics Related to High School Dropout Rates. Remedial and Special Education, 28(6), 325+. 10. Dohrmann, K. R., Nishida, T. K., Gartner, A., Lipsky, D. K., & Grimm, K. J. (2007). High School Outcomes for Students in a Public Montessori Program. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 22(2), 205+. 11. Gray, K. (2004). Is High School Career and Technical Education Obsolete. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(2), 128. 12. Griffin, R. S. (1988). Underachievers in Secondary School: Education off the Mark. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 13. Head Start on High School. (2007, July 27). The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), p. D1. 14. Maloy, R. W., & Seidman, I. (1999). The Essential Career Guide to Becoming a Middle and High School Teacher. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey. 15. Reyes, O., Gillock, K. L., Kobus, K., & Sanchez, B. (2000). A Longitudinal Examination of the Transition into Senior High School for Adolescents from Urban, Low-Income Status and Predominantly Minority Backgrounds [1]. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28(4), 519. 16. Stanley, D. B. (1999). Practical Steps to the Research Process for High School. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited. Read More